SIDNEY – COVID-19 cases in Shelby County and throughout Ohio have continued to drop as vaccination distribution continues throughout the state.

Shelby County has reported 4,375 cases of COVID-19 with 140 hospitalizations and 66 deaths during the pandemic. The county saw an increase of four hospitalizations and 41 deaths since last week.

Most of the new deaths reported occurred during November and December. The Ohio Department of Health discovered it previously had underreported the number of deaths across the state after a review of data.

There are 4,174 Shelby County residents who are presumed to have recovered from COVID-19, and there are 135 active cases – down from the 198 active cases that were reported last week.

Throughout Ohio there have been 947,389 cases of COVID-19 with 49,061 hospitalizations, 7,002 intensive care admissions and 16,611 deaths.

During his press conference Thursday, Gov. Mike DeWine announced there were 2,282 new cases of COVID-19 reported throughout the state in the previous 24 hours. That’s down from the 21-day average of 3,032 cases.

Ohio reported 173 new hospitalizations, which is up from the 21-day average of 156. There were 28 new ICU admissions, which is up from the 21-day average of 17. Ohio also reported 98 new deaths, which is down from the 21-day average of 267.

In Shelby County, 4,237 people have received a COVID-19 vaccination, which is 8.72% of the population and up 31 people since last week. Statewide, 1,369,627 people have been vaccinated, which is 11.72% of the population.

Vaccines are available for select populations including health care workers, EMS personnel, residents and staff of long-term care facilities, people 65 and older, people with intellectual or developmental disabilities and people with certain medical conditions.

Local vaccine providers include the Sidney-Shelby County Health Department, Wilson Health, Kroger Pharmacy, Walgreens and CVS.

To receive vaccine notifications from Wilson Health and the Health Department, visit www.shelbycountyhealthdept.org or call 937-498-7249.

To make an appointment with Kroger, visit www.kroger.com/rx/guest/get-vaccinated or call 866-211-5320.

To make an appointment with Walgreens, visit www.walgreens.com/findcare/vaccination/covid-19 or call 937-492-5340.

To make an appointment with CVS, visit cvs.com, use the CVS app or call 800-679-9691.

For those 65 and older who need transportation assistance to receive a vaccination, contact the Area Agencies on Aging at www.aging.ohio.gov or call 866-243-5678.

For more information about COVID-19, visit https://coronavirus.ohio.gov and www.shelbycountyhealthdept.org.